I grew up in Wuppertal and dropped out of school in 1999 to become a graphic designer. I learned the craft in a tiny local shop, studied design in Düsseldorf, spent time as an intern at AlmapBBDO in São Paulo, and graduated magna cum laude.

After co-running a small agency with a friend, I was longing for a bigger creative playground with bigger clients. I moved into freelancing and worked across major creative agencies for international brands. That phase shaped me, even if the exact names don’t matter much anymore.

In 2014, I joined Heimat. It was the place that taught me what creative ambition really means and how important it is to bring high-level creativity into every brief.

Later, I moved to Jung von Matt SPREE, where I worked on winning and developing the Postbank account. Three years ago, I joined Jung von Matt HAVEL, where I now lead creative work for Opel.

My work has been recognized at major award shows. The ratio of bronze to gold still makes me feel like a dropout, though.

For my book AHEAD, I visited leading agencies around the world and interviewed Serpa, Hegarty, Bogusky, Silverstein and others. I later co-founded the blog Innovation Stuntmen and launched the podcast Creative Vengeance to explore what drives outstanding creative cultures.

I’ve been teaching for many years at the Design Department of the University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf and am also a lecturer at Kreativkader. Teaching keeps me sharp and close to the next generation of thinkers.

I’m a member of the German Art Directors Club.